Colossians 1:13-14 “For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”
We started our day out with a quick breakfast. Our guide, Olivia, then met us at the hotel. Olivia was my guide 8 years ago when I came through Beijing! She is the sweetest lady and I was thrilled that still had her information. We planned a full and busy day.
When you hear the word “crowded” and you live in America, you think of something totally different then when someone says crowded from Asia. Our guide told us today wasn’t very crowded, which is mind boggling since there were people everywhere! In fact, we were going to start with visiting Tiananmen Square, but some of the entrances were closed and everyone was funneled one way…which meant a 4 hour wait. We decided to just go to the Forbidden City and take pictures of Tiananmen Square from across the street, which was a good choice. Last time I was here, we truly had hardly anyone. This time, there were people everywhere!! In fact, after seeing how bad this was, we have changed part of our trip. We were supposed to go to Yellow Mountains, but saw this is what “just a little crowded” looks like. We all said no way! In Asia, it is common for people to push and shove (waiting in a straight line is not a common practice for them). The kids and I decided we didn’t want to be on narrow, steep trails with crowds like below.
Olivia, our beautiful and knowledgeable guide!
Waiting for our driver after discovering 4 hour waits for Tiananmen Square.
Tiananmen Square and entering the Forbidden City.
I took these photos 8 years ago, this the more yellow sky. But they were better shots then I could get today with the crowds.
9 is considered a lucky number, especially in regards to the emperor. These huge doors had 81 knobs, which is a symbol of imperial power.
The Forbidden City was built around 1406 and was completed in 1420. The capital was moved from Nanjing (the train station we were at yesterday) to Beijing in 1421. Not only was the Forbidden City built then, so was the Temple of Heaven. It’s crazy to be in “newer” Chinese history spots that are already over 600 years old!
shan has been in his element. The hard Thu g with him is now he is hard to find in a crowd! He likes to wonder at times and it’s hard to spot him.
Many ladies, of all ages, rent outfits that resemble clothes worn during the emperor’s time. They were gorgeous!
A cold popsicle hit the spot on this blazing hot day!
From the Forbidden City, we headed to Jingshan Park.
Kind of morbid, but the tree the last emperor of the Ming dynasty hung himself. 😬
view from above Forbidden City. It’s hard to capture the beauty. My canon might have, but I don’t have a way to download those pictures at this time.
Facing the other day: drum tower
We then headed to lunch. The Peking duck was as good as I remember it!!! Olivia ordered us entirely too much food, but it was all delicious.
TikTok people are everywhere in China! We passed about 20 making ads for tourism and these two were doing a video for the food at the restaurant.
If you ever go to Beijing, this is where you want to eat!!
We then hopped in our car and headed to the Temple of Heaven for a quick tour. We had an acrobat show to get to, so it was a quick visit.
The “empress”
The acrobat show didn’t fail to amaze all of us. I kept hearing the kids say, “No way; Oh my goodness! How are they doing that?” It made it extra fun to share this fun evening with them.
Six motorcycles in this cage!
This girl had two girls balancing in her head as she descended stairs! They were not only balancing on her, but had a pile of dishes on their heads!
This guy is on stacked chairs, which wobbled when he was at the top. This was one of our favorite acts because he was just amazing!!
These ladies are bent in half with their teeth only holding them up!
Tomorrow we will head to the Great Wall! We are excited, but praying for no rain. The kids want to ride a toboggan down the wall when we are down hiking. If it rains, they close it. Please pray with us that it is a beautiful day. We are headed to bed after a long day! 🩷
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